A second edition of the leading introduction to the origins of the First World War and the pre-war international system.

William Mulligan is a lecturer in the School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. He is the author of The Creation of the Modern German Army (2005) and The Great War for Peace (2014), and co-editor of The Wars before the Great War: Conflict and International Politics before the Outbreak of the First World War (2015).

1. Introduction; 2. Security and expansion: the great powers and geopolitics, 1871-1914; 3. The military, war, and international politics; 4. Public opinion and international relations; 5. The world economy and international politics before 1914; 6. The July Crisis; 7. Conclusion.